Heater



March 3, 1936. c. T. PERKINS E1- AL 2,032,811

HEATER Filed April 19, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 THQ ffy/m@ i Patented Mar. 3, 1936 UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 HEATER Application April 19, 1934, Serial No. 721,279

4 Claims. (Cl. 257-137) l tract without rupture of thecore, or in anyway impairing the efficiency of the device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure wherein various portions of the core may expand or contract, in accordance with varying heat conditions, independently of other portions thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide ,a heat exchange device having air impelling therewith for forcing airv means associated through the core thereof, and wherein means are provided for eliminating reverse eddy currents of the air adjacent the impelling means, and for preventing deflection of air currents away from the core of the device.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structure wherein air passing through the core is substantially uniformly distributed. and directed therethrough in substantial` alignment with the air passages formed in the core.

A still further object of the inventionis to improve devices of the character described in sundry details hereinafter referred to and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

One embodiment of the present invention is shown, for illustrative purposes, in the accompanying drawings, in which i Fig. l is a sectional elevational view through a heat exchange device, taken substantially as indicated by the line I-i of Fig. 2, and illustrating an embodiment of the present invention associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational View, on a, reduced scale, of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, and

taken substantially as indicated by the line 2-2 thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary front sec-r tional elevational view of a, portion of the'structure illustrated in Fig. 1, and taken substantially as indicated by the line 3 3 thereof; and

Fig. i is an enlarged fragmentary bottom plan sectional view, taken substantially as indicated by the line 4*-4 of Fig. 1.

The illustrative embodiment of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings comprises a housing, indicated las a whole by the numeral 5, having apertures formed in its iront and rear walls as4 indicated at 6 and i,

-respectively, the housing 5 being shown, in the present instance, as provided adjacent its upper side with `a header having an inlet port 9 associated therewith, and provided adjacent its lower side with a header it having an outlet port Il 5 associated therewith.

lPositioned. between the headers 8 and Ill, and forming a portion of what is commonly known and shown, in the present instance, as a core i2, are a plurality of slightly iiexible heat radiating tubes I3 and l adapted to communicate at their respective ends with the upper and lower headers. 8 and ill, respectively.

In structures where fluids of varying degrees of temperature are passed through the heat ra- .15

diating tubes, it is Well known that expansion and contraction of the tubes occur in varying amounts in the different fluid passages formed by the tubes of the same core, and in structures where the headers are positioned in fixedsrelation to each other, as is usually the case in devices of, the character described, considerable damage may be done and the eiiiciency of the device impaired, unless the tubes comprising the various uid passages are permitted to expand and contract independently of each other, and for permitting the expansion and contraction of the various tubes independently of each other, the tubes'i and it of the presentinvention are shown, inthe present instance, as provided adjacent their lower ends with off-set or laterally extending transversely exibie portions I5 and i5, respectively, which may be formed integrally with the tubes i3 and id' or suitably connected thereto. It will b noted byreference to Figs. l and 4 that the laterally extending portions i5 of the tubesv it 4communicate with the header it at the side thereof adjacent the tubes, while the laterally extending portions it of the tubes I4 ex- 40 tend above and beyond the header iii and are radapted to communicate therewith at the opposite side thereof, thereby providing substantially uniform distribution of the laterally extending portions i5 and'pit throughout the length of the 45 header it, and providing a structure wherein theV material from which the laterally extending portions i5 and it are formed, may be exed sumciently to compensate for the contraction and expansion of the tubes i3 and ill independently 50 of each other without stressing the material beyondv its elastic limit. It will be observed also that any longitudinal expansion or contraction of the mrtions it and it will be compensated for by the slight flexibility ofthe tubes I3 and Mi 55 It will be observed from the foregoing description that the present invention, by reason of the construction and arrangement shown andl described, provides a structure wherein the various tubes comprising the core of the device may expand and contract independently of each other, thereby avoiding damage to the device and impairing itsy eilciency.

For providing air passages through the core I2 in a manner to facilitate the radiation of heat from the tubes I3 and Il, a plurality of fins Il are mounted on the tubes in spaced relation lon'- gitudinally thereof, and for forcing air through the passages thus formed, air impelling means is provided and shown, in the present instance, as a rotatable fan indicated as a whole by the numeral I8, and adapted to be driven by a motor I9 mounted, preferably, on brackets 20 adjacent the rear side wall of the housing 5 in a manner to position the blades 2| of the fan I8, preferably, within the aperture 1 formed in the rear wall of the housing .5;

For preventing deflectionvof air currents away from the core I2 of the device, eliminating reverse eddy currents of the air adjacent the impelling means, and providing for the substantially uniform distribution of air throughout thepassages formed in the core, a plurality of defiectors or blades 22 are mounted within the housing 5, between the core I2 and fan I8, and are shown, in the present instance, as extending in radial directions outwardly from a ring 23 positioned substantially concentrically with re- Spect to the axis of rotation of the fan Il to the outer walls of the housing 5. These deilectors 22 are shown, in the present instance, as curved transversely to their length in a manner to direct air currents, produced by the fan I8, against the core I2 in a direction substantially transversely thereto and in a direction substantially coincident with the direction of the air passages formed in the core, thereby providing a substantially uniform distribution of air currentsthroughout the air passages and in a direction toiacilitate the exchange of heat from the tubes I3 and I4 to the air currents passing through the core.

For confining the path of the air currents closely adjacent the fan I8 to facilitate the distribution of the air by the deflectors 22, a plate 24 having an aperture 25 formed therein, is posi-A tioned within the housing 5 in a manner to closely approach and surround the outer endsl of i the fan blades 20, as

clearly shown in 'Figa-1v and 2. Obviously, the presentinvention is not limited to vthe precise construction and@ arrangement shown and described, as the same may be variously modified. Moreover, all the features of the invention need not be used conjointly as the same may be used to advantage in variously different combinations and sub-combinations.

What We claim and desire to cover by Letters vPatent is:

1. A heat exchange device comprising a pair of headers and a. plurality of substantially parallel tubes communicating at one of their ends with one of said headers and having laterally extending portions adjacent their opposite ends, said laterally extending portions of certain of said tubes communicating with the other of said headers at an adjacent side thereof, and the laterally extending portions of otherl of said tubes extending beyond said other header and communicata ing therewith at the opposite side thereof.

2. A heat exchange device comprising a housing having apertures in opposite sides thereof, a core in said housing having a plurality of transversely disposed fluid passages and air'passages formedtherein, a rotatable fan adjacent one of the apertured sides of said housing, and a. plurality of substantially radially disposed dei'lector blades between said fan and core for directing air currents to said air passages in a direction substantially coincident with the direction of the air passages formed in said core.

3. A heat exchange device comprising a housing having apertures in opposite sides thereof, a core in said housing having a plurality of transversely disposed fluid passages and air paages formed therein, a rotatable fan adjacent one of the apertured sides of said housing, and a plurality of substantially radially disposed deflector blades between said fan and core, said blades being curved transversely in a common direction for directing air currents to said-air passages in a direction substantially coincident with the direction of the air passages.

4. A heat exchange device comprising a housing having apertures in opposite sides thereof, a core in said housing having a plurality of fluid passages formed therein and having air passages extending substantially transversely to said fluid passages, a rotatable fan adjacent one of the 

